Tell us about your hockey playing background

[Mattb124]

I suffer from adult-onset hockey, having started playing 12 years ago at age 42. My first team was in the PHA at Vallco/Bridgepointe and we moved to Sharks Ice a couple years later. Currently on three SIAHL teams (captain one), and am strictly D because I only have one lung and don't have the cardio to play F. Right-handed, always felt natural to shoot left.

 

[Tw1ster]

Born in Saskatchewan, started playing hockey at 5 or 6 as a Novice and played all the way up until Peewee (first year of contact hockey) which is when my parents pulled me out of it due to being undersized. I was oblivious to the fact I was probably pretty bad which was the real reason they pulled me out. When I was super young, I never watched a lot of NHL or hockey in general until I latched onto the Sharks. After I was pulled out of hockey, me and my family moved out to BC and joined soccer and did quite well with it. Once I turned 18, got a job, and moved out, my love of the Sharks inspired me to get back into hockey so I joined a beer league that I’ve played in ever since, I’m 36 now. I’ve never been a great skater or puck handler but I’ve always been able to put up a lot of points just for knowing where to go, being good along the boards, and being a good passer. It’s been a great hobby in my adult years and I plan to continue to play until I physically cannot.

 

[bluefunnel]

Played some roller hockey as a young kid in goal. Got into an accident that required no activity for several months and then I never really felt up to doing anything through my high school years so I never really got back into it.

 

[Pavelski2112]

Used to play a fair amount of street hockey when I was younger. A summer program I went to when I was a kid was run by a guy who was pretty buddy-buddy with the Sharks and I remember he was able to get us a bunch of hockey equipment and I played goalie for a while.

After that, nothing until I was about 21, when I started playing roller hockey at Silver Creek and did that for about 5 years. Mostly played D7.5/D7 but played a bit of D6C. At that point I was pretty much a Jacob MacDonald type F/D - good at nothing in particular, but not so horrible that I shouldn't have been on the ice (usually).

 

[tiburon12]

I've been playing ice hockey since I was 4. Was always big and fast and could score, but i never got good enough stickhandling and making plays with my head up to be a solid player. Played youth through highschool, topping out at JV (NE prep school hockey, so not THAT bad). Took a year off for freshman year of college but then joined a local men's league. Moved to BKK, found hockey here after 2ish years, and have been big in the hockey scene here since about 2016.

It's kinda cool, when I started playing here I was one of the better players, leading the league in goals a few times. Now hockey has grown so much that i'm a 2nd line guy in our league and some of the Thai kids i used to help coach and stuff are the better players in the league. Last night at shinny i actually skated with a former SHLer - we get a lot of amazing talent passing through.

Hockey is the best and I'm lucky to play in a country with average temps of 95 lol. I hope to play for the rest of my life.

 

[Munnyro]

I've been playing ice hockey since I was 4. Was always big and fast and could score, but i never got good enough stickhandling and making plays with my head up to be a good enough player. Played youth through highschool, topping out at JV (NE prep school hockey, so not THAT bad). Took a year off for freshman year of college but then joined a local men's league. Moved to BKK, found hockey here after 2ish years, and have been big in the hockey seen here since about 2016.

It's kinda cool, when I started playing here I was one of the better players, leading the league in goals a few times. Now hockey has grown so much that i'm a 2nd line guy in our league and some of the Thai kids i used to help coach and stuff are the better players in the league. Last night at shinny i actually skated with a former SHLer - we get a lot of amazing talent passing through.

Hockey is the best and I'm lucky to play in a country with average temps of 95 lol. I hope to play for the rest of my life.

I'd be interested in hearing some tidbits about hockey in Thailand. An expensive sport in a relatively non-wealthy country and all.

It's gotta have its own unique flavor (see what I did there).

 

[tiburon12]

I'd be interested in hearing some tidbits about hockey in Thailand. An expensive sport in a relatively non-wealthy country and all.

It's gotta have its own unique flavor (see what I did there).

Because of the costs most of the kids who play come from super wealthy families, like stupid wealthy. For the most part, that's a negative, because these kids are spoiled and grew up being the #1, so they have a more difficult time playing a team sport like hockey. Everyone wants to be the superstar; role players don't really exist.

we're at an interesting point in Thai hockey where the best players are 28-35, then there is a gap, and then a whole wave of really good kids aged 16-20 rising the ranks. Many of those kids have already gone overseas (US, UK, Finland, Germany, etc) to play. It's really interesting to watch unfold. When i started there were probably 200 players (both thai and foreigner), now there are about 800 thais that play, and about 120 of those are girls/women. It's great.